NMR observation of critical dynamics in the (TMTSF)2PF6 organic superconductor

We have studied the organic superconductor (TMTSF)₂PF₆ using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance. The spin-lattice (T₁) and the spin-spin relaxation time (T₂) measurements manifested a divergence associated with a structural phase transition at 160 K.     

Anomalous magnetoresistance in an organic conductor: (TMTSF)2PF6

The effect of a transverse magnetic field on the chain axis resistivity of the new organic conductor (TMTSF)₂PF₆ is found to be substantial near the transition point. δρ/ρ₀ is + 20% at B=6Vsm^-2 just above the transition. An interpretation based on curvature in the Fermi surface is proposed.     

Electron spin resonance spectroscopy of the organic conductor: (TMTSF)2PF6

The ESR g-factor, linewidth and spin susceptibility of (TMTSF)₂PF₆ are each found to have a distinct temperature dependence. The anisotropy of g and of the linewidth for static magnetic fields in the plane perpendicular to the highly conducting axis suggest that spin-phonon scattering is the dominant relaxation mechanism. The metal-insulator transition at 19 K is reflected particularly clearly in the magnetic properties.     

ESR study of weakly irradiated organic conductors: TMTSF-DMTCNQ and (TMTSF)2PF6

We present ESR experiment on irradiated TMTSF-DMTCNQ and (TMTSF)₂PF₆. They suggest that a weak disorder extends the metallic phases to low temperatures. Surprisingly, disorder has no effect on the ESR linewidth of (TMTSF)₂PF₆ between 20 and 30 K, where the d.c. conductivity changes a lot with disorder.     

The electrical resistivity of the charge transfer complex (TMTSF)2PF6

The temperature dependence of the resistivity of (TMTSF)₂PF₆ over the temperature range 25–300 K is in excellent agreement with “libron” theory, if a Bloch (1-phonon) contribution corresponding to λ = 0.16 (a value determined from the Peierls transition temperature) is invoked. This contributes about 10% to the resistivity at 300 K, and about 20% at 40 K.     

Thermoelectric power of TTF[Ni(dmit)2]2

The 1D organic salt TTF[Ni(dmit)₂]₂ becomes superconductor with T_c=1.6 K under an applied hydrostatic pressure of 7 kbar. Structural determinations in this system lead us to suspect that superconductivity (SC) coexists with a charge density wave (CDW) instability at low pressure. In order to better understand how SC emerge from a CDW and to revisit the pressure–temperature phase diagram of the TTF[Ni(dmit)₂]₂ we performed transport and thermoelectric power measurements under pressure.     

Proton irradiation defects in (fluoranthene)2PF6

Electron spin resonance and electron–proton double resonance (Overhauser shift method) are used for the comparison of proton radiation damaged and as-grown (fluoranthene)₂PF₆ single crystals. Chemical modification and various consequences of the nonuniform distribution of radiation induced defects in this quasi-one-dimensional organic conductor with defect dependent Peierls transition are worked out.     

Single crystal magnetic susceptibility of the quasi-one-dimensional organic conductor (fluoranthene) 2PF6

Magnetic susceptibility was measured on a bundle of single crystals of difluoranthene phosphor hexafluoride [(FA)₂^·+PF₆^?] with external field parallel or perpendicular to the molecular stacking direction. Except for lowest temperatures, where the paramagnetic contribution of sample defects is of importance, magnetic susceptibility is dominated by the strongly anisotropic molecular diamagnetism. Spin paramagnetism is separated in the metallic and semiconducting phase and compared with magnetic resonance results and predictions of available models.     

Existence of two-dimensional closed orbits and delocalized carriers in the spin-ordered state of quasi-one-dimensional (TMTSF)2PF6

The magnetoresistance in spin-ordered state of quasi-one-dimensional (TMTSF)₂PF₆ has been studied. Both the frequency and anisotropy of the magnetoresistance oscillations are found to be independent of temperature; this proves the temperature independence of the geometry of two-dimensional closed contours at the Fermi level. At the same time, the oscillation amplitude decreases with the temperature, indicating the depopulation of the closed contours in the T = 0 limit. An explanation for the above seemingly controversial results has been proposed. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

AC-DC coupling experiments in the spin density wave state of tetramethyltetraselenofulvalene-hexafluorophosphate [(TMTSF)2PF6]

Experiments performed on (TMTSF)₂PF₆ in the spin density wave (SDW) state in the presence of joint ac and dc excitations do not show evidence for coupling between dc and ac response. Irradiation by microwaves does not lead to strong dc nonlinearity, and attempts to resurrect the ESR signal by applied dc currents were also unsuccessful. While the strongly frequency dependent response is indicative of collective effects, the response of the SDW ground state is fundamentally different from that of a charge density wave condensate.     

(TMTSF) 2F2PO2: An unusual member of the (TMTSF) 2X family of organic metals

Resistivity measurements were carried out as a function of temperature and pressure in (TMTSF) ₂F₂PO₂. A strong metal-insulator transition is observed at ～137K which is only incompletely suppressed by high pressures. The nature of the resistivity curves obtained at high pressure suggest the onset of a Fermi surface instability; however, the metallic-like transport at lower temperatures suggests that the energy gap covers only part of the Fermi surface. The surprising increase in ? (T) at temperatures below 20K (under pressure) may result from disorder induced localization arising from the strong electronic scattering from the randomly oriented dipole moments.     

Anisotropic thermopower of (TMTSF)2PF6: 1D–2D cross over and SDW ordering

The thermopower of (TMTSF)₂PF₆ has been measured along the a-axis as well as along the b-axis. Marked anisotropy is seen in the whole temperature region studied. Close to 100 K, an anomaly is attributed to cross over from dominating one-dimensionality to dominating two-dimensionality. Precursor effects seen in S_a near T_c are attributed to SDW fluctuations. Well below T_c, both thermopower components exhibit typical semiconducting properties.     

Infrared properties of the ambient pressure organic superconductor (BEDT-TTF)2I3

The infrared principal axes of superconducting β-(BEDT-TTF)₂I₃ are found to be directed along the chain axis and perpendicular to the axis in the a-b plane. At low temperatures well-defined plasma edges appear in both directions. Adopting a simplified 2-D orthorhombic band structure model, effective transfer integrals are found to be $\text{ = 0.10}\text{eV}\text{and}\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{perp;}}\text{= 0.13}\text{eV}$. A cross-over from semiconductor-like optical properties at 300 K to metallic-like optical properties at 40 K is observed in both directions. This is the first such observation in any organic conductor.     

Polarized reflectance spectrum of β-(BEDT-TTF)2PF6

The polarized reflectance spectrum of β-(BEDT-TTF)₂PF₆ was measured over the spectral range from 720 cm^?1 to 25, 000 cm^?1 at 293 K (semiconductive phase) and at 318 K (metallic phase). The infrared band found in the conductivity spectrum, which was obtained by the Kramers-Kronig transformation of the reflectance data, is interpreted as the one associated with inter-band transition.     

High field Shubnikov-De-Haas effect and magnetoresistance in the organic metal (TMTSF)2 ClO4

The transverse magnetoresistance of (TMTSF)₂ ClO₄ has been investigated in magnetic fields up to 32 T at several temperatures down to 4.2 K and different angles between B and the crystalline axis. Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations are observed directly on the magnetoresistance at fields higher than 10 T giving a fundamental field of 259± 10 T in a direction close to c¹ axis.     

Coexistence of superconductivity and spin density wave orderings in the organic superconductor (TMTSF) 2 PF 6

The phase diagram of the organic superconductor (TMTSF)₂PF₆has been revisited using transport measurements with an improved control of the applied pressure. We have found a 0.8 kbar wide pressure domain below the critical point (9.43 kbar, 1.2 K) for the stabilisation of the superconducting ground state featuring a coexistence regime between spin density wave (SDW) and superconductivity (SC). The inhomogeneous character of the said pressure domain is supported by the analysis of the resistivity between T _SDW and T _SC and the superconducting critical current. The onset temperature T _SC is practically constant ( 1.20±0.01 K) in this region where only the SC/SDW domain proportion below T _SC is increasing under pressure. An homogeneous superconducting state is recovered above the critical pressure with T _SC falling at increasing pressure. We propose a model comparing the free energy of a phase exhibiting a segregation between SDW and SC domains and the free energy of homogeneous phases which explains fairly well our experimental findings. Received 3 September 2001 and Received in final form 9 November 2001     

Low temperature thermodynamical properties of the organic chain conductor (TMTSF)AsF

We report on specific heat measurements of the quasi-one-dimensional organic salt (TMTSF)₂AsF₆ in its spin density wave state between 75 mK and 7 K. Similarly to (TMTSF)₂PF₆, we find discontinuities in the lattice contribution at 1.9 K an d 3.5 K ascribed to sub-spin density wave phases. Time-dependent effects due to dynamics of low-energy excitations in metastable states occur only below 0.2 K which yields an activation energy for the equilibrium energy relaxation process of 0.34 K, 4-5 times smaller than found for (TMTSF)₂PF₆. Finally the reduction of the low-energy excitations contribution to the specific heat in comparison to PF₆ reveals an intermediate cubic-like regime between 0.25 and 0.5 K that we tentatively describe as the phason contribution of the incommensurate spin density wave modulation. Received: 17 March 1998 / Revised: 27 July 1998 / Accepted: 22 September 1998     

Physical properties of (TMTSF)2TaF6: Influence of the anion size

The physical properties of (TMTSF)₂TaF₆ are discussed through transport and magnetic measurements. A crossover between two different regimes is observed around 100K and a spin density wave ground state appears below 11 K. The phase diagram under magnetic field is determined. Finally, the properties of this compound are compared with that of the other members of the TMTSF series and the influence of the anion size is discussed.     

Magnetization and electron spin resonance of Fe impurities in (TMTSF)2AsF6: magnetic-field-dependent interaction between impurity spins and spin-density waves

A new spin-density-wave (SDW) system with magnetic impurities (TMTSF)₂(AsF₆)_1−x(FeCl₄)_x was prepared and its magnetic properties were studied by means of magnetization and electron-spin-resonance measurements. The anisotropic g-value and comparison of the Fe concentration with the Curie constant indicate that the Fe³⁺ ions are in a low-spin state. We also found that the magnetization curve of the impurity spins in this compound shows an anomalous behavior. This behavior can be explained if one assumes a field-dependent magnetic interaction between the Fe³⁺ spins and the SDW moment. We suppose that the field dependence of the SDW pinning potential is responsible for this phenomenon.